Hopatcong ice-fishing tourney is Feb. 16

Well, if you are an ice-fishing enthusiast, you’re probably bent out of shape since the good guys at the Knee Deep Club up on Lake Hopatcong had to cancel their first scheduled tournament of the year Sunday because the lake wasn’t sufficiently covered with safe ice from one end to the other.

Sure, most of the inshore areas were fine but still, if it isn’t safe everywhere, they cancel for everyone’s sake. The next date is Feb. 16 and here’s hoping that a hard freeze will precede that date for a week or so.

Before a bit of a thaw took place, some guys had been doing fairly well. Chain pickerel and yellow perch had been biting in the Great Cove and Nolan’s Point areas. Across the lake, the state park also produced some nice catches as well as at Woodport and Northwood.

The guy who manages the Knee Deep Club’s fine web site, Jim Archambault, recently pulled a seven-pound, nine-ounce walleye through the ice. Walter Lesziak was fishing deep water with a few friends and they had some walleyes, too, to a top length of 27 inches.

Trout remain in area rivers but as I warn you every year, this requires extreme caution if you are alone. In fact, try to avoid sliding down an embankment without a buddy because one trip and fall could be your last! However, rainbow and brown trout are there for the catching in waters such as the South Branch of the Raritan River and the Musconetcong River.

Down the shore, the mackerel run really never took off but still, they could show up in big numbers any day. Boats that are equipped for them will seek alternate targets and you can generally count on putting some fish in the cooler for a meal or three before the end of the day.

The main targets now are porgies, which have been biting well. At times, ling also are on station. However, two far bigger critters are often caught and this requires special rigging.

You see, porgies and ling aren’t exactly monstrous in size and have relatively small mouths. To catch them you will need a size 1/0 or so offset hook, baited with a piece of fresh skimmer clam. Many guys use two hooks in tandem with each dangling below their heavy sinker.

However, if you add a size 5/0 hook six feet above the sinker on a two-foot leader, this hook is intended to seek out codfish and/or pollock. Each of these fish are often caught well above the bottom and if you bait the hook with a big wad of clam, you often will find that what you’re reeling up is not exactly a porgy or ling!

They all taste fine so pick a relatively mild day with a modest wind out of the west and board one of those boats that have heated handrails!